Whatever! – The Power of Positive Whining

This month we’re not going negative!

Last month in Whatever (okay, last three-weeks-ago, and feel free to take it up with the management if you think that’s too often), I went slightly negative again, complaining about the AMA banning young Danny Eslick from attempting to be the first guy ever to win three Daytona 200s in a row, and thus metaphorically man’s inhumanity to man in general. In the Whatever before that, I probably did the same negative thing since that’s how five decades living with the hobnailed boot of the Man on one’s neck tends to influence one’s worldview, but who can remember six weeks ago? Certainly not Google or MO’s own search engine.

This month, we’re going to change it up with a completely positive column! First off, large congratulations to Wayne Rainey, Paul Carruthers, and all the other people at MotoAmerica for getting American roadracing back where it belongs, on live TV. The longer you live, the more all the old truisms make sense, such as “out of sight, out of mind,” and though I’m sure good racing never left the building, without a convenient way to watch it, it might as well have. Now it’s on the beIN sports network, right along with MotoGP and World Superbike. I was just about to cut my cable when that deal happened. (And if you already have, I think you can just buy an online beIN subscription and watch through one of those Chrome doohickeys.) Sorry, but I am not going to leave stately Burns manor to suffer the slings and arrows of commercial aviation to watch the MotoAmerica series, especially when it’s broadcast back-to-back with MotoGP, World Superbike, or both, and my home refrigerator is mere steps away.

Whether American racing has become a stagnant backwater or not, watching Roger Hayden suddenly step up his game on the old Yoshimura GSX-R1000 in an attempt to keep up with temp-hire Toni Elias on the other Yosh bike (rumor has it Yosh boss Sakakura picked him up out front of a Home Depot when he was looking for men to hang drywall) was a lot of fun to watch, especially since I believe this was the first American superbike race in about 56 years not won by a Yamaha.

Elias, the 2010 Moto2 champ and winner of the 2006 Portugal MotoGP, seems to be just what was needed to relight the fire under Roger and the other Americans, as well as provide a graphic demonstration why immigration is a good thing. Now that Rog has beat Josh Hayes and those other kids, maybe he’ll want to do it again? Maybe they won’t want him to, and a right old ding-dong battle might ensue like in the good old days when AMA Superbike was a big deal?

Speaking of ding-dong battles, kudos also to Greg White and Jason Pridmore for providing almost entirely cogent, oftentimes really interesting commentary, with none of the shrill over-the-top histrionics or non-stop blather barrage of their international colleagues. All I can ask for now is an occasional Lap of Silence, in honor of the brave men and women who build GoPro cameras and exhaust systems. This could be my contribution to motorcycle broadcasting.

Meanwhile in the also-live-televised 600 Supersport (which will be combined with 600 Superstock this coming weekend from the classic venue Road Atlanta), the Yamaha factory children went at it even harder, Garrett Gerloff just beating out 2015 champ JD Beach – complete with more up-and-comers hot on their heels. I hate to go all xenophobe, but something about watching our home-grown sprogs does something for me that Motos 2 and 3 just don’t quite. Like, other people’s kids (hint: foreigners) just aren’t as cute as your own. Seeing them on TV after all these years away has me coming over all Ronald Reagan; it’s morning in America again!

Maybe our Home Equity Line of Credit has crawled far enough back up the chart for a whole new crop of people to buy their kids shiny new KTM RC390s? Really what needs to happen is for somebody to invent a tire that will last for a race weekend; a guy I met at a recent press event told me he goes through six sets (6!) of Dunlop GP-As in a typical 600 Superstock race weekend. Is there a cartel?

In other good Morning-in-America news, Erik Buell is at least semi-back in business, and maybe even ready to start building some new models. To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure if I want to see Buell succeed because I greatly admire the man and love a few of his motorcycles, or because I like to see the poo-pooers eat their words. Again. (Not that I might not be eating mine this time next week.) If you caught our April 1 scoop about GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump entering into a partnership with Buell and MV Agusta to make motorcycling great again, you might be interested to learn that Erik Buell actually received some nasty mail as a result of our little joke, the gist of which was good! You two bankrupt losers deserve each other!

The good news is MO didn’t get any nasty feedback. Erik laughed it off as usual, but what’s more important than his feelings are my own: All the thousands of commenters who posted after that story (okay, 17) actually got it and joined into the spirit of the thing – the only slight unpleasantness coming after Gabe Ets-Hokin suggested the best part would be that Trump would make Mexico pay for it all; anynamedontcare (probably not his real name) then suggested the real best part would be when the Mexicans take turns on Gabe’s ass.

The level of discourse here on MO, in other words, has risen to a far higher plane than ever before, which also gives me hope for the future. In fact the last time prison rape surfaced in the comments following something I wrote, at least one right-thinking person jumped in to insist there’s nothing the least bit funny about the topic. I agree, there’s not. “Jesus Loves You” is not necessarily a nice thing to hear when you’re in a predominantly Spanish-speaking prison.

Finally, score one more victory for rational discourse. Just because some obnoxious youth who calls himself Snowcatxx87 on Youtube has half a million followers doesn’t seem to mean there are half a million video watchers who agree with his hostile attitude toward other road users; more likely they are just hanging around waiting to see the guy get his comeuppance. When industry veteran ex-motojournalist and one of the swiftest/safest riders I know, Ken Vreeke, grew weary of being behind the unpredictable Snowcat on Mulholland Highway and passed him (on the outside in a curve!!), the clueless youth’s attempt at dressing down poor Ken only made Snowbird himself look like an angry child, as borne out by all the comments on MO and on his own Youtube site. Before you go around videoing and nastily critiquing the rest of the world, it’s a good idea to learn to ride first yourself, and to ask yourself what it’s like to roll a mile in the other man’s tires. You might be successful for a while describing yourself as a “professional hater” like Snowcat does, but it can’t last. It takes a village, people, and ours is a really good one of which I am proud to be a citizen. Now, does somebody have $20 I can borrow?

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12er

Dang it, looks like I may have to buy a chromecast or other gizmo to get my racing fix.

spiff

For what it’s worth, chormcast is sweet. I don’t have cable, only internet. If I can find something on my phone, through chrome or any other app, all I have to do is “cast it” and it is on the big screen. Netflix, MotoGP.com, Pornhub, etc. lol.

John A. Stockman

Sounds pretty good, I’m going to find out more about that…maybe my friends and I will be able to watch some MotoAmerica this year after all! My friends and I had to all chip in for the WSBK and MotoGP Video Pass this year since beIN has the rights now. We’ve watched since the beginning how beIN treats motorcycle racing since they got WSBK, with their slowly-decreasing WSBK coverage, so it was a lot less $$ to share the “Pass” costs than to keep paying $180/year for beIN Sports in a “sports channel package”. The only thing we’ll be missing might be MotoAmerica. Our own national series. Just like a couple years back when we could watch every BSB round on Velocity, but couldn’t watch our own series here in the US.

12er

My PS3 cant handle it as its my streaming box for most anything else. Im going to see what my buddies PS4 can support and may upgrade there. I really dont want another gizmo draining power, money and time if I can avoid a one off for bike racing. Granted I dont need cable anymore since supercross is all Im getting at the moment since you have to pay me to watch people play with a ball.

JMDonald

American racing is good for America. Neither a borrower nor a lender be. The world revolves around the snowcatxx87. If a superior cyclist passes the snowcat on a curve and no one is there to record it does he make a sound?

Snowpussy with a half million followers and MotoAmerica struggling. WTH smartcrap addled America? Snap out of it.

schizuki

In the interest of helping to elevate the discourse, BeIn Sports is the most pleasant surprise I’ve had since my dickswab came up negative.

john burns

I don’t even know what that is, but I’ll like it anyway. Vietnam era STD test or something?

schizuki

Back in the day the ex-girlfriend called and said she had an STD. Went to the doctor and he poked a swab into my p-hole and gave it a twirl. I stifled a scream like a manly-man, then got back into my car, curled up into a ball and moaned for ten minutes.

Totally worth it, though. If she’d gone pro she could have made two grand a trick.

john burns

I really did know better than to ask.

fzrider

Mission accomplished, all good, all positive. Now get back to work and find me something to be pissed about. Thank you.

Ok finally, I’m not the only one who’s Dish dvr didn’t record a single GP event. Yes I got the MotoAmerica races, thank you but after being in Austin I wanted to rewatch the race at home. WTF Bein..

John A. Stockman

Great news for those that can get beIN. Many cable co.’s still do not offer it. Yet networks like Fox Sports, CBS Sports (former broadcast home of AMA Pro and MotoAmerica last season) and NBC Sports are part of even basic channel line ups. I can get free Comcast cable where I live; being free it’s their most-basic, lowest tier channel “package” and FS, CBS and NBC’s Sports networks are part of it. Like many, my budget is being strained by the usual. Satellite customer costs are increasing, in spite of fixed-price deals and 2-3 year contracts for said price, now more costs because of the FCC-mandated “regional sports fee”. With DirecTV, I have to pay $15/month just to get beIN Sports as part of their “sports channel package”. Which means 98% ball sports to US-based broadcasters/networks. Dish requires it’s highest cost/most-channels line up to have beIN. No provider is currently offering an a-la-cart method to get specific channels either, so I could just add beIN without any other networks. These exclusive market rights deals which limit viewing choices to one channel are not increasing viewer numbers or expanding the fan base, as each series’ principles say is so very important in the US market. I know folks who can’t get beIN. Sure FS1 has gone over the top of MotoGP for a baseball no hitter…just like Speed used to do with regularity for nascar “news” and rained out nascar races. But we would get to watch Dylan Grey’s amazing on-board laps of each track because FS added an extra 30 minutes to the MotoGP time slot. Plus the replays, and each Moto3 & Moto2 round, which beIN did not show at the opener in Qatar. It looks like beIN is now going to air Moto2/3 after numerous complaints. beIN cut out so much of Supersport last year there was next to nothing in the form of actual racing when PJ Jacobsen was doing so well fighting alongside Sofuoglu and Cluzel. The North American rights holders to World Supersport wasn’t showing the only American in the entire series going up against literal hard-hitters like Cluzel and Sofuoglu. I know things can get better and Dorna said beIN is “aggressively” attempting to get more cable providers to carry their network and make it part of a regular channel line up w/o paying a premium. Shouldn’t that already be decided and/or in place before an exclusive broadcast rights contract is signed? I was really looking forward to seeing how MotoAmerica was going to step up their production values for the CBS Sports shows this year, as it was evident Greenlight.tv had never seen a properly-produced motorcycle race broadcast before with their youtube-type highlights shows last year. Also, if I don’t have beIN as part of my line up, I can’t access any of their on-line content. If that changes, I’ll be watching, but MotoAmerica is off the table for me this year…even MotorTrend OnDemand won’t have MotoAmerica this year because beIN is the exclusive rights holder here. It would be so much easier if I would just learn to like grown men chasing balls around…

schizuki

” It would be so much easier if I would just learn to like grown men chasing balls around…”

I think Logo is the network for that.

Or so I hear.

kawatwo

We can get BEIN on xfinity here but only the Spanish version and it does not have MotoAmerica that we have found. Watching moto GP and WSBK in Spanish is FUN though:) NOT! Especially the post race interviews when the announcers are translating English to Spanish and talking over the racers At least it is on TV. Moto America, not yet for us in Seattle at least…

Max Frisson

The new home of roadracing on TV here in the US is really much better than anything else we have had ever before. Fewer commercial interruptions, none in some races. I think that is because beIN is primarily a football [soccer] sports channel and commercial interruptions are not the norm unlike American football which is structured for commercial breaks.

Michael Williamson

Fubotv (www.fubo.tv) streams Bein sports @ 1080 resolution for 10 dollars a month. I watch all three series from a Web browser on my smart tv, plus they have apps for mobile devices. Worth checking out, it also includes Bein connect and access to numerous soccer channels.

William Marvin Parker

Thnx for the tip man! Sounds like a good deal, I’m a ck that out. .

Vrooom

It would be wonderful if my cable provider actually carried beIn, but when I called to ask about they asked me to spell it. Not a good sign, especially when it’s made up of 2 letter words..

gunny 2shoes

i free stream motogp live all race weekend long-practice and qualifying, with good picture and sound, getting up early is the hard part.

William Marvin Parker

“then suggested the real best part would be when the Mexicans take turns on Gabe’s ass.” TMI, dude…

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